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TORONTO — Now he's gone and done it. How will the legions of Justin Trudeau haters respond, as he begins to put supposedly non-existent meat on the bones of a supposedly brainless, content-free campaign?

To give credit where credit is due: The overwhelming favourite to win the Liberal crown didn't need to take this position, which puts him offside of much of the progressive left, as well as public opinion.

It's easy for an opposition politician to lambaste a government policy. It's even easier to do so when the government's effort has been a mishmash. Whatever the merits of its economic direction — and there are a few — the Harper government has evolved into a terrifically inept communicator. In the midst of pressing trade and investment pacts the world over, the Conservatives apparently never anticipated that CNOOC-Nexen, or broader trade ties with Communist China, could become controversial. Pressed over the past month by the New Democrats on details of its investment protection pact (FIPA) with China, the Tories responded with their now customary suite of idiotic talking points.

It was no surprise at all, therefore, to see NDP Leader Tom Mulcair pick up this ball and run with it, as he continues to do. There are legitimate questions, as I have noted before, about both the detail of the FIPA, and the CNOOC-Nexen deal. The Harper government should have addressed these up front: Instead it has played catch-up. Its likeliest way forward now is to approve the takeover, but with stringent conditions. Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that CNOOC has accepted a requirement that the acquired company have 50 per cent Canadian representation on its board and in management.

If true, that is fascinating: Article 7 of the Canada-China FIPA says that "a contracting party may not require that an enterprise of that Party . . . appoint individuals of any particular nationality to senior management positions." The agreement allows that a majority of a board of directors be "of a particular nationality or resident of the territory of the Contracting Party," but only if that does not "materially impair the ability of the investor to exercise control over its investment."

For CNOOC to accept a 50-50 board and executive-suite split, therefore, would denote appreciable flexibility in the interpretation of the FIPA, to Canada's benefit — perhaps driven by knowledge on both sides that the deal has become a hot potato.

All of which makes Trudeau's position the more noteworthy: Understanding that the Nexen deal will likely be approved, and knowing that Main Street sentiment is running against, he could have aped Mulcair with an un-nuanced slam. That's the old peril and temptation of Liberalism: You can say whatever you need to based on circumstance, because no one expects you to have any principles beyond the quest for power.

Instead Trudeau chose to make a case that is, from a populist point of view, a tougher sell. And he did so in unusually blunt terms. "China, for one, sets its own rules and will continue to do so because it can. China has a game plan. There is nothing inherently sinister about that. They have needs and the world has resources to meet those needs. We Canadians have more of those resources — and therefore more leverage — than any nation on earth."

In effect Trudeau began to make the case the Harper government could have made all along — but hasn't. It seems he isn't especially interested in vying with Mulcair for the leftovers of the centre-left. He's after the full meal and his target is Harper.

The next line of attack for Trudeau's detractors, as more policy emerges, will be that he isn't personally producing it: He's cribbing it from the policy brains on his team. At some point, perhaps belatedly, it will dawn that someone has to gather and lead the team, and that this is, in fact, what leaders do.

Beyond that, the strategy and timing are of a piece in themselves. With this move, Trudeau outflanked new challenger Martha Hall Findlay — who is pro-trade, favours the Nexen deal and is an articulate economic conservative. He set himself up, perhaps for the first time, as someone who can walk and chew gum at the same time. He played against the stereotypes that are his greatest point of vulnerability. And he offered the clearest signal yet that, should he win next April, the Liberal platform in 2015 will not be the usual pastiche of Chretien-era retreads.

In all, that wasn't a bad day's work, for a lightweight.

Twitter: @mdentandt

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